Ingredients:
2 bags frozen mashed potatoes
10 slices of bacon
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. sour cream
2 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
salt & pepper
Cook potatoes according to package directions and set aside. Fry bacon till crispy, allow to cool and crumble/break into small pieces. Using a fork, mash the potatoes until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, butter and sour cream and stir till well mixed and smooth. Add 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, half of the bacon pieces, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well mixed. Put potato mixture into large casserole dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 until slightly golden brown, about 30 minutes. Garnish with remaining bacon and serve.
I discovered this dish on Pinterest. It had all the ingredients I love - mashed potatoes, bacon and cheddar. The original recipe had you making the mashed potatoes from scratch. I cheated and used the frozen kind that you cook in their bag in the microwave. This takes all the hard work out of it as far as I'm concerned. The combination is delicious - I like it better than my old potluck recipe for hash brown cheesy potatoes. I'm making this to go with our ham this weekend for our family Easter dinner. I hope everyone likes it as much as we did.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Homemade Croutons
Ingredients:
1 loaf of bakery bread, stale
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. garlic salt
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Cut stale bread into cubes, about 3/4" big. Leave uncovered to dry out further overnight. Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, place the bread cubes. Combine the two oils and drizzle over the bread. Mix thoroughly. Combine spices in small bowl. Add the spices to the bread in the bowl. Cover the bowl and shake well to mix and make sure the spices cover the bread cubes evenly. Spread the seasoned bread cubes in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, making sure not to overbake. Allow to cool and store in air-tight container for salads and soups.
I had a couple ciabatta rolls leftover from sandwiches and they got pretty stale. I hated to see them go to waste, so I searched for a crouton recipe online. After substituting my own spices for what their recipe called for, we loved the result. A couple of notes: you have to watch them when they are baking - you don't want to get them too brown; also, you can easily over-season them. Try your own spice combinations for different types of meals, just don't overdo the salt. They are great to snack on, they smell great when they are baking and they are fabulous warm out of the oven!
1 loaf of bakery bread, stale
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. garlic salt
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Cut stale bread into cubes, about 3/4" big. Leave uncovered to dry out further overnight. Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, place the bread cubes. Combine the two oils and drizzle over the bread. Mix thoroughly. Combine spices in small bowl. Add the spices to the bread in the bowl. Cover the bowl and shake well to mix and make sure the spices cover the bread cubes evenly. Spread the seasoned bread cubes in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, making sure not to overbake. Allow to cool and store in air-tight container for salads and soups.
I had a couple ciabatta rolls leftover from sandwiches and they got pretty stale. I hated to see them go to waste, so I searched for a crouton recipe online. After substituting my own spices for what their recipe called for, we loved the result. A couple of notes: you have to watch them when they are baking - you don't want to get them too brown; also, you can easily over-season them. Try your own spice combinations for different types of meals, just don't overdo the salt. They are great to snack on, they smell great when they are baking and they are fabulous warm out of the oven!
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